Posts by Charlene Sakoda

A Wisconsin woman, who thought her lost wedding ring was long gone five years ago, was recently reunited with it in a very surprising way. As reported by WAOW Newsline 9, two weeks ago, Lois Matykowski of Stevens Point, and her granddaughter were out in the yard enjoying Popsicles on a hot day. That was until Tucker, the family dog, struck. "He's known in the family to be the food burglar," Matykowski explained. "After I turn around and I look at my granddaughter, the Popsicle is gone and there's Tucker you know, smacking his jaws.” The pooch stole the icy treat on a stick and gobbled it all down.

A motorist in DeKalb County, Georgia witnessed a woman getting carjacked and called 911, but instead of getting help, he says the 911 operator debated him about what to call the crime. As reported by WAGA Fox 5 News, Willie Hubbard saw the woman getting thrown to the ground by a man. Hubbard told the station, “I’m thinking that could’ve been my momma, my grandmother, that could have been my sister, anybody.” So he called 911 and reported the crime, hoping to get the woman some help from the authorities.

Hubbard explained what transpired on his call with the 911 operator:

911 operator: ‘Sir could you tell me what happened.’

Hubbard: ‘He just snatched her out of the car and took her car. She just got carjacked.’

911 operator: ‘Well sir, that’s not a carjacking, that’s a theft.’

Hubbard: ‘Ma’am, that’s not a theft.’

911 operator: ‘Well did he have a gun?’

Hubbard: ‘No he didn’t have a gun, but he just snatched her and threw her to the ground, and stole her car.’

A fast food worker in Yankton, South Dakota alleges that he was harassed and discriminated against when his manager forced him to wear a name tag with a homophobic slur. Earlier this week, KELO Keloland Television reported that Tyler Brandt, a 16-year-old Taco John’s employee, quit his job after a manager pressured him into wearing a name tag with a demeaning label. “[The manager] pulled me into the office and gave me a name tag that read ‘Gaytard’ on it and asked me to wear it,” Brandt explained. “So I put it on because I didn’t want to upset him and I felt that if I did do anything to upset him that it would cause me to possibly lose my job because he would be looking for ways to fire me.” Brandt’s co-worker Kayla Martian told KDLT News that the manager made his feelings about Brandt known saying, "I remember one time he said, 'Tyler is so weird because he's so gay, it's not even funny.'" KDLT reports that Brandt learned early on that the management at that Taco John’s franchise had a “reputation for picking on employees,” though he didn’t think it would have gone as far as it did.

A woman in Frederick, Maryland was shocked and concerned when she found a bag of marijuana mixed in with her family’s drive-thru meal.

As reported by The Frederick News-Post, Carla McFarland took her two children, a 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, to get a special treat: a meal at Sonic. On Wednesday, the family rolled through the drive-thru and McFarland passed her children their chicken strips and french fries, then reached into the bag for her own food. That’s when she discovered a small plastic bag of what looked like marijuana, in with her french fries.

“I just kind of sat there in my car in shock,” McFarland said. “I kept thinking, what if my kids had eaten it?” The mother called the police and notified Sonic’s management. They were apologetic and the customer’s meal was remade at no charge. “I definitely can't say that they didn't go out of their way,” said McFarland. “I honestly think they were more in shock than I was.”

A reporter ended up soaking wet after she approached a man for an interview. A Nine News Australia camera caught the entire exchange between the network’s reporter Alex Bernhardt and a man facing weapon and drug charges (watch the video here). The man allegedly had a hand grenade in his Gold Coast home, which was found during a police raid earlier in the day. Bernhardt was covering the story and approached the man as he was filling up a cooler with water in front of his house.

An 82-year-old Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio man was ticketed after he was seen in public allegedly flying a kite while naked. As reported by WOIO 19 Action News, Edward Paolucci considers himself a professional kite flier and has been pursuing the activity for more than 15 years.

Last week Paolucci was flying one of the kites in his collection of more than 50, in a field at the Summit County Fairgrounds. A volunteer at the fairgrounds, who saw Paolucci that day, claims that the elderly man was in the buff while flying his kite. WOIO notes that the police were called and the officer’s report indicated Mr. Paolucci was flying a kite nude while a horseback riding camp with young adults was happening nearby. It’s a charge that Paolucci denies saying, “No. I had my swimming trunks on, all the time my swimming trunks.” Still, Paolucci was ticketed and told not to return to the fairgrounds.

A cyclist in Ottawa, Canada is speaking out after surviving a serious attack by a Canada goose. As reported by CBC News, Kerry Surman was riding her bike on the Trans Canada Trail on June 10 and saw a gaggle of geese crossing the trail. Two adult Canada geese crossed with goslings and then another adult goose crossed shortly after. Surman thought that the coast was clear. “I think, ‘They’re going to be protective but I’m just going to zip by because they’ve all gone by,'" she recounted. "But I misjudged how quickly I was going. They thought that I was threatening them and the goose attacked me as I was riding my bike.” The cyclist continued explaining, "The last thing I remember is the wings came around my face, and I hear myself screaming and then I’m out.”

Ms. Surman said that when she awoke, she was lying on the ground and her face was swollen. She had a hard time getting up and to the main road, but eventually she was able to flag down Pastor Steve Wilkins, who was passing by. Wilkins called 911 and waited with Surman for the ambulance.

A 6-year-old kindergartner in South Jordan, Utah managed to beat students years older than him to win his elementary school’s spelling bee. As reported by KWTX News 10, Kazim Ali survived round after round of Eastlake Elementary School’s spelling bee to emerge as the school’s champion and the first kindergartner ever in the Jordan School District to earn that honor. “I’m good at reading books, coloring,” Kazim said. “I’m in kindergarten, but I really need to go to first grade because um, kindergarten, I passed already.”

The feat is quite impressive but when he was asked why he wanted to compete in the school’s spelling bee he revealed, “It is not my idea, that’s my mom’s idea.” Mothers do know best and her son’s spelling prowess is evident when the youngster is able to easily spell out difficult words like “anthropomorphic.” The definitions however are a bit harder. When Kazim is asked what it means, the little boy said, “Well, uh, I have no idea.” Still, Kazim’s father says that his son knows 600 words and there’s no doubt that list is growing.

Three teenagers in Seattle, Washington attempted to steal a car in broad daylight on Sunday afternoon, but they were stymied by something they didn’t anticipate: a manual transmission.

As reported by KCPQ Fox 13, Nancy Fredrickson was pulling garage sale items she just bought out of her trunk, when three teenage boys approached her. The 70-year-old woman told KOMO 4 News, "He goes, 'I want your keys' and I thought it was a joke!"

Fredrickson quickly realized that it was serious when she saw a gun pointed at her face. She dropped her keys on the ground when one of the young men repeated himself. Nancy is a martial arts black belt and studied the discipline for 25 years. She stood frozen. "You learn that if someone is trying, the best thing you can do is to be still,” she told KOMO. “And it's not easy for me to be still at times, but in that situation yes.”

A police officer in Richmond, Texas is being hailed as a hero after he pulled a woman from railroad tracks just seconds before a train arrived. As reported by KPRC Local 2, early Sunday morning, 27-year-old Richmond Police Officer Ramon Morales was flagged down and told that a woman was sitting on the train tracks nearby. Officer Morales, arrived on the scene just as the crossing arms came down. The patrol car’s dashboard camera was recording, and on the footage Morales can be seen pulling the woman off the tracks to safety right before a train speeds by. The officer secured the woman with one hand, and used his other to make a call on his radio. "He got there just, just in time,” Richmond Police Department Master Sergeant Lowell Neinast told KPRC. “Saved this woman's life without regard for his own."

“He's a hero. In our eyes, he’s a hero and he went way above and beyond the call of duty to save someone else's life," Sgt. Neinast said.